When having an MBA is important

Excerpt

The following is from the June 9, 2010, edition of CNN. Professor Dennis Grindle, director of the MBA Career Management Center in SMU's Cox School of Business, provided expertise for this story.

June 9, 2010

By Beth Braccio HeringCareerBuilder.com

Some people view an MBA degree the same way that Charlie thought about his Golden Ticket in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory": They believe a piece of paper can magically transport you to a place you only imagined.

But can this addition to your résumé really be your dream ticket? Yes. No. Maybe.

There are no simple answers, but here are ways that an MBA might help you.

MBA could get you hired in a tough economy

Let's face it: If you had your pick between two candidates -- one with a BBA and one with an MBA -- who were both qualified for a job, wouldn't you take the one with the higher degree?

Because of the recessions affect on employment, many companies have a wealth of talent to pick from at the moment and some can afford to be choosy in their hiring. Candidates need to score every point possible, and a graduate degree may give that extra edge.

"A category of jobs that begins to show up more in a recession is one that says MBA desired or preferred versus MBA required," says Dennis Grindle, director of the SMU Cox School of Business MBA Career Management Center in Dallas, Tex. "These jobs tend to pay somewhere in between a BBA and an MBA. This allows an MBA to get into what they want to do by taking a step back to hopefully go forward later when economic times get better."